BrambleClan Story REDUX
by Soulfire1123
Summary: When BloodClan is plagued by a tyrant, four cats chosen by StarClan will save them from destruction... An old prophecy given a new life.
1. Foreword by Author

**Foreword**

Hello! It's been dumb long. I haven't stopped writing, though! In fact, I'd like to think I've gotten better-better than I was in 2012 when I posted the first chapter of BrambleClan Story. That was a while ago, and I've sort of stopped reading the Warriors series for a bit, but it hasn't left my heart!

I was thinking for a bit, and I thought it would be great to revisit BrambleClan Story, but what was I gonna do? Animate? Make a webcomic? Write from a whole other perspective?

I began reading through the story again and I thought to myself, _wow, this is great, but god it's kinda hard to read_!. Well, I did write it when I was in the 7th grade, and now I'm in the 11th. Perhaps it's time for a redux!

So that's precisely what I plan on doing- reintroducing BrambleClan Story to the masses, but in a much more eloquent, well-thought-out fashion. I'll be doing it chapter-by-chapter, so feel free to pull up both versions of a chapter and compare!

It'll be more or less the same story with (hopefully) more continuity, but this time it'll be 3rd person only, which is a challenge, since I've only ever written in first person.

For those who haven't read through the original story, here's a snippet of original exposition:

" **... I'm sure that you, reader, have heard many tales of the ruthless and vicious BloodClan. They had very strict rules which stated that if you could not survive on your own, you could not survive with BloodClan. This was the primitive, more unsettled BloodClan than the one that took in the five newly-orphaned kits and raised them as their own.**

 **After many moons, the disbanded cats of BloodClan found themselves back together, but with a different attitude. They were shocked after witnessing the horrible yet necessary murder of their late leader, Scourge, and decided that they were better off alone than live under such horrible conditions. BloodClan has kept some of their vicious ways, but only to a certain extent. Now they can actually be considered a "clan". They believed in StarClan, had medicine cats, a formal leader and deputy, and actually took care of the sick and old. The only problem was getting the other clans to believe that they have changed. ...** "

That's the setting without giving away too much of the plot. Of course, you could just go and read the old story, but you could also wait for the re-written chapters and discover BrambleClan Story all over again.

I'll try as hard as a can to get chapters out quickly, but I'm older now and have a lot more going on so no promises.

As for BCS Book 2... Well, I came upon the predicament where I was hand-writing the chapters a lot faster than I was typing them, and I didn't really want to painstakingly type out stuff I've already written, so I just stopped. I have the handwritten chapters in a drawer somewhere, so maybe after this is done, I can revisit Book 2. Fingers crossed!

If anyone is reading this who's read BCS back in 2012-2014, welcome back! I hope you'll enjoy the redux as much as the original.


	2. The Beginning

**The Beginning**

Bella's belly seemed to tighten with every step. She knew she was expecting kits and that they would have to come out at some point, but no one told her it would be this painful, not even the old crone of a she-cat in Bella's band of loners who looked like she'd birthed her fair share of kits. _Where is he? Where is my love?_ Bella growled in frustration. A few sunrises before today, Bella's mate had gone off hunting and never came back. She knew he wasn't obligated to stay in the group—cats came and go as they pleased—but the fact that he left without telling her or even taking her with him made Bella angry, confused, and sad at the same time. There was also the possibility that he may have died, but Bella knew that wasn't the case. Her mate was a clan cat; he knew how to defend himself.

A sharp claw of pain shot through Bella's haunches, making her collapse onto the leafy ground beneath her. She dug her claws into the ground and bit her tongue to keep her from yowling into the night and bringing a group of clan cats her way. Bella had been walking since the sun was high in the air. The milky saucer of a moon hung in the sky now, and she'd still been far away from finding her lost mate. A couple of times, she came across the foul-smelling scent markers of some forest clan, but she made sure to taste the air every so often and to stay far away from any forest cats and their scents.

Bella tried to stand again, but her legs failed her. Another pang went through her haunches, but less painful as the one before. The kits in her belly began furiously wriggling around, and Bella's heart stopped when she realized what was happening: she was giving birth. _My love,_ she thought, helplessly, _Why did you have to leave?_

Bella couldn't move. She couldn't get to safety. One of those clan savages would surely see her or scent her, wherever they were. They'd kill her and her kits immediately. She had to get to safety, but she just…couldn't…get…up!

Bella looked down and gasped. She hadn't realized she was lying in a pool of water. She didn't fall in a pool of water, though. It was strangely warm, and smelled strong. Bella rolled onto her side to see blood in her pale gray fur, soaking her tattered purple collar, and dripping off the shiny gold piece hanging from her collar. She wasn't lying in water; she was lying in a pool of her own blood. Bella suddenly felt a little lightheaded. She wasn't supposed to lose this much blood. She let the exhaustion overtake her and flopped onto the ground, breathing as if she'd just run through the entire forest at full speed. The moon above her seemed to fade and grow brighter at the same time. She could feel the warmness of the blood soaking into her, like the soft blanket her upwalkers once gave her, or a mother's warm, comforting gaze. Bella let the warmth of the blood and the coolness of the night air and the dim brightness of the moon to encompass her.

* * *

"Any more scents, Foxtail?" Blackstar, BloodClan's leader asked the warrior. There were the scents of a loner or possibly a rouge detected last night, and that was the focus of the BloodClan's dawn patrol this morning.

"They were the same scents as before," Foxtail replied, "We ventured out a little and found a dead tom by the fallen tree. He had no clan scents on him and his bones were clearly visible, so we think it was starvation. We buried him where we found him. Also…There's something else." Foxtail shared a look with the four clanmates that joined him in the patrol.

"Well, what was it?" Blackstar pressed, "Another band of loners spotted?" Spottedpelt, Blackstar's deputy, came sauntering up beside the lean, black-pelted leader. There was always something off-putting about the leopard-pelted tom, but Foxtail wouldn't let his face betray it.

"No," Foxtail explained, "It was a kittypet, by the looks of it. A she-cat. Her collar was half-torn and she was just as starved as the tom we found; probably a kittypet wandered too far from her nest." Foxtail hesitated, searching for the right words. Spottedpelt stared intently at Foxtail, silently judging his every word with his cold amber eyes, making Foxtail's black tail tip twitch with nervousness.

Foxtail gulped. "Well, she was lying in a pool of blood, with five kits suckling at her belly."

"Leave them," Spottedpelt snorted, "They'll be eaten by owls and eagles soon enough."

Blackstar ignored his deputy, "If you get there fast enough, we can save the kits." BloodClan's leader dismissed two of the four in the patrol. "Fetch Thunderfoot and your apprentice, Foxtail. Make haste; I don't want the kits dying." Spottedpelt did nothing but give Blackstar a cold stare and stalk away, neck fur bristling.

Foxtail could tell the two weren't seeing eye-to-eye a lot lately, and he knew Spottedpelt would never harm his leader, but he couldn't help but be worried for Blackstar. Spottedpelt was known for acting on emotion and rage rather than logic and it was just a matter of time before Blackstar said something to set him off.

Thunderfoot, BloodClan's medicine cat who was so named because of his ability to run great distances quick as thunder, was already waiting outside of his den. The two shared a nod and Foxtail went to rouse his apprentice, Honeypaw, who was likely fast asleep in the apprentices' den. When Foxtail poked his head under the holly bush, he saw that his apprentice was there, but she was conversing with her sister, Featherpaw, instead of sleeping.

"Blackstar wants you to come with me," he said, matter-of-factly.

Honeypaw sighed. "I thought the dawn patrol already went out?"

"It did," Foxtail said, "but now we have to go out again. I'll explain it to you." Foxtail wanted to spare Feathertail, who was much younger than Honeypaw, the gruesome details.

"I hope it's important," Honeypaw complained.

Foxtail lightly cuffed the apprentice on her honey-dappled ear. "Clan duty is always important. How many times must I remind you of this?" Honeypaw didn't reply, instead following her mentor quietly.

After leaving BloodClan's camp, Honeypaw asked, "What's so important out here that Thunderfoot, two warriors, and an apprentice have to check it out?"

Foxtail was blunt with his apprentice. He didn't want to shield her from the dangers that lie in the forest. "A dead, malnourished she-cat and five living but very weak kits. That's what's so important."

"New clan members," Honeypaw said. Foxtail nodded in agreement. BloodClan was in need of all the help it could get. Despite BloodClan living alongside them for many seasons, the other four forest clans wouldn't recognize BloodClan as a serious clan because of the legacy of Scourge, BloodClan's notorious first leader.

Honeypaw walked closer to Foxtail and murmured, "I heard some whispers from Thunderfoot's den," she murmured.

Foxtail nearly jumped out of his pelt. "How many times have I told you to stop eavesdropping around Foxtail and Blackstar's dens? Do you want to get in trouble? Don't you know I'll get in trouble, too?"

Honeypaw looked away. "I know, but… I didn't mean to hear it. I was having a piece of fresh-kill and I heard him say something. It worried me, it didn't sound good."

Foxtail sighed, "What was it?"

Honeypaw glanced over to where Thunderfoot was padding nearby. "He kept repeating something to himself… 'When BloodClan is plagued by a tyrant, four cats chosen by StarClan will save them from destruction'... I don't know what it means, though. Blackstar's not a tyrant, though, and what four cats?"

"Have you told anyone about this?" Honeypaw shook her head. "Good," Foxtail said, hushed, "Don't tell anyone about this, not even your sister. What goes on between Thunderfoot and StarClan doesn't concern you." Foxtail looked over at Thunderfoot, whose face was unreadable. Thunderfoot probably hasn't figured it out fully, if this was an actual message from StarClan. If he was troubled about this, he didn't show it.

Once the group reached the dead she-cat in the clearing, Thunderfoot rushed over to examine the kits. "The kits are still alive," he announced, to no one in particular, "They're weak, but—" the medicine cat broke off. "StarClan, have mercy…" he breathed.

Foxtail padded over to the she-cat in the pool of mostly dried blood. "What is it? Is she alive?"

"No," Thunderfoot replied, aghast, "The orange tabby one; look," Thunderfoot gently nosed away a snow-white she-kit and a shadow gray tom to reveal an orange tabby she-kit with…

"Wings?!" Honeypaw exclaimed. On the back of the orange tabby she-kit were two dove-white wings. Thunderfoot gingerly nosed one wing and the she-kit jerked upward onto her feet, hissing. Her leaf-green eyes were already open while her littermates' eyes and ears remained shut, which was expected of newborns.

"Easy now, little one," Thunderfoot tried to comfort the day-old kit. She shied away from the medicine cat when he tried to examine her. "She's fine," Thunderfoot reported, "Completely healthy, as are the others."

"But how could something like this be possible?" Foxtail asked.

Thunderfoot stared at the winged she-kit for a moment. "Only StarClan knows," he replied. "Bury the she-cat. We'll take the kits back to camp."

* * *

Six moons later, as expected of clan kits, the five started their apprenticeships. The kits were given proper clan apprentice names—Shadowpaw, the shadow-gray tom, was apprenticed to a senior warrior named Whiterose; Icepaw, the snow-white she-cat, was apprenticed to a warrior named Doveclaw; Sandpaw, the orange tabby tom, was apprenticed to Foxtail after Honeypaw received her warrior name; Redpaw, the orange tabby tom with peculiar red stripes was apprenticed to Spottedpelt; and Soulpaw, the orange tabby she-cat with the dove-like wings was apprenticed to Thunderfoot, since such an anomaly of a cat must have divine properties.

The five orphaned cats were accepted into the clan, even Soulpaw with her stunning yet non-functioning wings. Things were pleasant for once in BloodClan; prey was plentiful, the following Greenleaf was warm and pleasant, and the clan was remained unbothered by the other four forest clans, until a horde of badgers fell on the camp.

They were well-prepared for this fight and held the camp fiercely, yet there were three casualties—two warriors and BloodClan's leader, Blackstar. The entire camp seemed to mourn his death an entire moon after it happened. All but his deputy, Spottedpelt.


	3. The Ceremony

**The Ceremony**

The clan camp was awash with the blood of badgers and the chaos of biting teeth and slashing claws, and with every BloodClan member fending them off—even the nursing queens, whose kits were safely stowed away in the impenetrable and guarded medicine den—it was easy for something dastardly to take place in the midst of all the fighting. Spottedstar thought no one would see, but the four littermates saw just what he did.

Soulpaw, who was with Thunderfoot defending the medicine den full of kits, only briefly saw what happened. She saw Spottedpelt and Blackstar facing off, but had to nip the leg of a rearing badger that approached the medicine den. When the badger finally retreated, Blackstar was lying underneath a fallen badger, bleeding. At first, she thought the badger got him, but when she saw Spottedpelt running out of camp, Soulpaw put two and two together. _Why would Spottedpelt do something like that_ , she kept thinking to herself after the last badger had been driven away.

The entire clan, some wounded and some tired, huddled around the black tom that was once their leader. Thunderpelt and Soulpaw sprinted over, but once the two saw their leader, they knew nothing could be done.

"He's dead," Thunderfoot announced, "Blackstar lost his last life. There's nothing I can do. He's in StarClan now, no doubt." There were terrified gasps and mournful yowls erupting from the group of huddled cats, but Spottedpelt, Blackstar's once loyal deputy was nowhere to be found to placate the crowd.

The dead badger was taken off of the late leader's motionless body. Two of Blackstar's ribs were broken by the falling badger, but that injury wasn't what killed him—it was a bite to the throat, small enough to look like a cat could do it, but savage enough to seem like a badger got the best of him.

"Stay here," Thunderfoot said, "Tend to the wounded." As Thunderfoot and a warrior lifted Blackstar's body to be taken to the medicine den, cats with bleeding scratches, wrenched muscles, and a torn claw here or there made their way to the medicine cat apprentice. She even saw her brother, Redpaw, among the wounded, but the look in his eyes led Soulpaw to believe he fought valiantly.

* * *

After the wounded were tended to and Blackstar's body was cleaned and covered with sweet-smelling herbs to hide the scent of death, a vigil was held. The entire clan attended, save for a few seriously hurt warriors and a queen tending to her terrified kits.

Three warriors were unaccounted for, including Spottedpelt. For a heartbeat, Soulpaw wished he'd died, but then she remembered that her brother, Redpaw, had a close relationship with the senior warrior and would probably be very hurt if he died. Soulpaw glanced at her brother, but he was sitting silently, trying his best to look brave, "As warriors should be," he would always tell her.

It was dusk when Spottedpelt showed up, not a single scratch on his leaopard-spotted orange pelt. He glared distastefully at the vigil occurring before him. Soulpaw looked over to her other three littermates, Icepaw, Sandpaw, and Shadowpaw, and the four shared a look, as if somehow they knew what she was suspecting was true. If they did, they didn't dare say so.

Spottedpelt strutted confidently, maybe even defiantly, over to the leader's den, and stood where Blackstar would usually stand to hold clan meetings.

Clearing his throat, he yowled, "Will all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a clan meeting!" Thunderfoot hurried over to Spottedpelt and uttered a few hushed and urgent words to the deputy, but Spottedpelt snapped, "I will not! If I want to say something, I'll say it now! Would you deny the _leader_ what he wants to do?" Thunderfoot flattened his ears in cold contempt, but said nothing and backed away.

Spottedpelt continued, "As you know, our leader has fallen, meaning I'm the new leader. You will address me as Spotted _star_ from this point on or face harsh consequences." Spottepelt couldn't be a –star! He had to go to the moonpool to receive his nine lives by his ancestors. Soulpaw wanted to object, but knew she would quickly be silenced. "Redpaw, come up here," Spottedstar told his apprentice. Redpaw confidently padded beside Spottedstar. "I think it's time you became a warrior," he told the red-striped apprentice. Gasps erupted from the crowd of mourners, and some yowled their objections.

"Have you no decency?" one tom challenged, "Our leader lies dead here and you want to go about with this mockery? This is shameful!"

"Quiet!" Spottedstar growled, " _I'm_ the leader now, and I do as I please! There are two brave BloodClan warriors that were killed in the forest by those savage beasts, but you don't mourn for them!"

The two warriors Spottedstar was talking about were the two cats left unaccounted for—warriors named Heavytail and Skyclaw. They were Spottedstar's friends, sure, but they were two of the most cowardly warriors in the clan—all growl and no bite.

"Redpaw," Spottedstar went on, in spite of the protesting clan members, "It's time for you to receive your warrior name. From this moment on, you will be known as Redstripe, and all of BloodClan bears witness to this naming. Are you willing to bleed for the clan, to shield the clan, and to provide for the clan, at all costs?" Redstripe nodded proudly, as if he knew this day was coming faster than it should have.

"Then it is so," confirmed Spottedstar. He licked the newly-named warrior between the ears and Redstripe returned the gesture with a lick on the shoulder. It was then that Soulpaw knew Redstripe knew what was happening all along. He stood triumphantly beside his new leader, a warrior at just seven moons. Soulpaw noticed Spottedstar didn't include StarClan in this ceremony, as was custom. Did he not believe in StarClan at all?

"You can't!" a voice protested from the crowd. Soulpaw turned to see that it was her brother, Sandpaw, who shouted, her other two siblings standing in support beside him. "You can't be leader!"

"And why is that, little kittypet?" Spottedstar challenged, unamused by the outburst.

"You killed Blackstar! That's against the warrior code, you can't be leader!"

Spottedstar guffawed. "You have no proof."

Soulpaw decided it was time to speak up. "I saw you do it," she confirmed.

"And we did, too!" added Icepaw and Shadowpaw. The clan began yowling insults at the false leader, believing what the young cats said to be true. Redstripe remained quiet, standing beside his leader and former mentor.

Spottedstar yowled a furious yowl that silenced the clearing. "I will not have traitors among my clan! Get out of here, you kittypets! I'm not going to let four orphans try to usurp me! Out, _now_!"

Spottedstar unsheathed his claws and charged at Sandpaw, leaping over Blackstar's lifeless body, and slashed him on the cheek, sending scarlet streaks blood flying and Sandpaw falling backwards. Icepaw and Shadowpaw helped their littermate to his feet and bounded out of camp, not looking back. Soulpaw looked for a moment at Redstripe, an emotionless boulder, before streaking out of camp herself.


End file.
